He Was Real

For a second—just one fractured second—time didn't move.

The mist clung to the earth like a held breath. A raven beat its wings once and froze, suspended mid-air. Even the leaves rustling in the wind seemed to hesitate.

The four men stood in the courtyard, half-shadowed by the archway overhead. Their expressions ranged from confusion to disbelief. But they all stared at the girl who had done the impossible. She had forced her way past centuries-old wards and blood-bound thresholds, slipped past wards as if they were nothing more than mist themselves.

And Caelen felt his world tilt.

 He couldn't seem to mask his shock and surprise.

'How?'. He thought. How did she find him. How did she get past the threshold.

 Some many questions swirled in his head.

He should have been furious. Should have demanded answers.

But there was only silence.

Only her.

The girl from his dreams—no, not from dreams. His dreams had never dared to give her a face. Only a presence. A whisper in the dark. A feeling. A pull.

An ache.

And now she stood before him. Solid. Breathing. Fragile in body, perhaps—but her eyes burned with something ancient. Something familiar. Not fear. No, she wasn't afraid. She stood here, eyes-wide and blazing with something far more dangerous than fear.

It was worse.

Recognition.

Caelen's breath caught in his throat, a strange sensation that jarred him. He hadn't felt breathless in decades. Maybe longer. But now, something inside him uncoiled with dangerous hope.

 He noticed the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. Her lips parted, as if she meant to say his name,but how could she? She didn't know it.

Or did she?

Caelen's jaw clenched.

And then, he turned.

Without a word, without a glance, he walked away. Each step echoed like thunder. The heavy iron gate at the far end groaned open by itself, groveling before him. The chill that trailed him curled frost over the stones.

Theo blinked. "Wait.....what?"

Cassian narrowed his eyes. "What the hell just happened?"

But Caelen didn't stop. The air around him bristled with static, and the ground beneath his boots trembled faintly, as if unsure whether to hold him or let him vanish altogether.

Cassian took a step forward . "I'll get the girl."

"No." Theo's voice was quiet, almost reverent.

Cassian turned to him. "Theo, she broke through the gate. That shouldn't be possible."

"She's not a threat."

Cassian scoffed. "And what makes you so sure?"

Theo didn't look at him. His gaze was still fixed on Caelen's retreating back.

"Because he ran."

Silence followed.

Even Alec, who had stood motionless through it all, shifted slightly. His eyes, sharp and searching, flicked to the girl with unsettling calm. But even he didn't move to stop her.

No one did.

Ariadne stood alone, her breath ragged. Her heart thundered in her ears.

He left.

Again.

Her shoulders dropped.

But this time it was different. This time she hadn't imagined him. This wasn't a dream. This wasn't a fantasy conjured by lonely nights and stubborn hope.

He was real.

 And the way he looked at her... it wasn't recognition.

It was something deeper.

Like she'd reached into his chest and touched a part of him he'd buried centuries ago. Like a wound being ripped open. Like someone remembering a melody they hadn't heard for a long time.

The others still watched her, unsure, tense. But none of them said anything. None of them made a move to stop her.

And Ariadne, for the first time in weeks, didn't feel lost.

She felt close.

Closer than ever.

Like the edge of her dream had finally bled into waking life. Like the thread she'd been following, across cities and years and sleepless nights, had finally led her here.

To him.

To the beginning of something terrible. Or maybe something beautiful.

But either way, there was no going back.